The GSMA Mobile Connectivity Index has revealed that a proportion of Nigeria’s population is covered with 41 percent of 4G network, 76 percent of 3G networks and 89.8 percent of 2G networks.
Nigeria scores 47.7 percent in the Index, which measures the performance of 150 countries, accounting for 98 percent of the world’s population, against the four key enablers of mobile internet connectivity.
The Index noted that mobile download speeds in Nigeria is 16.5 percent, mobile upload speeds 14.7 percent while mobile latencies is 55.2 percent.
Meanwhile, in terms of quality of supporting infrastructure such as electricity access and servers that help to enable mobile internet connectivity, the Index revealed that the proportion of the country’s population with access to electricity is 56.4 percent.
Numbers of secured Internet servers is 55.2 percent, total capacity of all international Internet bandwidth is 35.2 percent, while the total number of active Internet Exchange points per 10 million people is 1.9 percent.
Other key metrics from the Mobile Connectivity Index on Nigeria, shows that out of the population of 195 million people, with 50 percent rural population, Nigeria has 76 percent mobile connections and 39 percent mobile broadband connections.
The GSMA’s Mobile Internet Connectivity Index is an analytical tool accessible through a web-based interface. The enablers are composed of 13 dimensions, which are in turn made up of 39 indicators. The Index is unique in its exclusive focus on enablers to mobile connectivity and its global coverage.
The Index is intended to help focus the efforts and resources of the Mobile Industry and the wider International Community on the key areas that will promote greater adoption of mobile internet services across countries.
The key findings from the Index are:
- There are no short cuts – countries must perform strongly across all enablers.
- Focus on clusters rather than precise scores and rankings – countries at the beginning of the journey towards universal access will gain more from understanding the experience of a number of countries, not just one or two.
- Need for better data – the Index has been built using best-in-class source data, but there is a need to develop better indicators to measure and monitor affordability, digital skills and content.